Welch voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was 1 of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.<ref>[http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll659.xml ''U.S. House'' "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.]</ref>

Welch voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was 1 of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.<ref>[http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll659.xml ''U.S. House'' "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.]</ref>

Peter Welch (b. May 2, 1947, in Springfield, Massachusetts) is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Vermont. Welch is the only representative from Vermont and was first elected to the House in 2006. He won re-election in 2012.[1]

Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Welch is an average Democratic member of Congress, meaning he will vote with the Democratic Party on the majority of bills.

Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations

Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs

Issues

Legislative actions

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 114 out of the 3,036 introduced bills (3.8 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session.[7] For more information pertaining to Welch's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.[8]

National security

American response in Syria

More than 100 House lawmakers signed a letter urging President Barack Obama to call Congress back into session if he planned to use military force in Syria.[9]

Rep. Scott Rigell wrote in the letter in August 2013, “engaging our military in Syria when no direct threat to the United States exists and without prior congressional authorization would violate the separation of powers that is clearly delineated in the Constitution.”[9][10]

The members of Congress believed that Obama should have asked Congress for permission before engaging in Libya. The letter asked, “If the use of 221 Tomahawk cruise missles, [sic] 704 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, and 42 Predator Hellfire missiles expended in Libya does not constitute ‘hostilities,’ what does?”[10]

The letter stated, “If you deem that military action in Syria is necessary, Congress can reconvene at your request. We stand ready to come back into session, consider the facts before us, and share the burden of decisions made regarding U.S. involvement in the quickly escalating Syrian conflict."[10]

On August 29, 2013, more than 50 HouseDemocrats signed a letter written by CaliforniaRep.Barbara Lee that called for a congressional resolution on strikes, and cautioned that the dire situation in Syria "should not draw us into an unwise war—especially without adhering to our constitutional requirements."[10][11] The letter also called on the Obama administration to work with the U.N. Security Council “to build international consensus” condemning the alleged use of chemical weapons. Welch was one of the 50 Democrats in the House to sign the letter.[10][11]

National Defense Authorization Act

Welch voted in opposition of HR 1960 - the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill passed the House on June 14, 2013, with a vote of 315 - 108. Both parties were somewhat divided on the vote.[12]

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations

Welch voted in opposition of HR 2217 - the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2014. The bill passed the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 245 - 182 and was largely along party lines.[12]

Keystone Pipeline Amendment

Welch voted in favor of House Amendment 69, which would have amended HR 3 to "require that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, conduct a study of the vulnerabilities of the Keystone XL pipeline to a terrorist attack and certify that necessary protections have been put in place." The amendment failed on May 22, 2013, with a vote of 176 - 239 and was largely along party lines.[12]

Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act

Welch voted in opposition of HR 624 - the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. The bill passed the House on April 18, 2013, with a vote of 288 - 127. The bill would allow federal intelligence agencies to share cybersecurity intelligence and information with private entities and utilities.[13] The bill was largely supported by Republicans but divided the Democratic Party.[12]

Economy

Farm Bill

Welch voted against the July 11, 2013 Farm Bill. The bill passed in a 216-208 vote.[14] The bill passed included farm policy, but did not include food stamps.[15]

King Amendment

Neal signed a letter sent to Collin Peterson in August 2013, asking him to keep Steve King's amendment out of the final Farm Bill.[16] The "Protect Interstate Commerce Act" amendment prevents states from applying their own laws on agricultural products to agricultural products from another state.[17]. King introduced the amendment in response to a law in California, requiring a larger size cage for egg-producing chickens. King represents Iowa, which is a large egg producer.

Immigration

Morton Memos Enforcement Prohibition

Welch voted against House Amendment 136 - Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order. The amendment was adopted by the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 224 - 201. The purpose of the amendment as stated on the official text is to "prohibit the use of funds to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Morton Memos." These memos would have granted administrative amnesty to certain illegal aliens residing in the United States.[18] The vote largely followed party lines.[19]

Healthcare

Repealing Obamacare

Welch has voted against all attempts to repeal or delay the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[20]

Social issues

Abortion

Welch voted against HR 1797 - Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The resolution passed the House on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 228 - 196. The purpose of the bill is to ban abortions that would take place 20 or more weeks after fertilization.[21]

Previous congressional sessions

Fiscal Cliff

Welch voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was 1 of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.[22]

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Peter Welch, click [show] to expand the section.

2010

On November 2, 2010, Peter Welch won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Paul D. Beaudry (R), Gus Jaccaci (I) and Jane Newton (Socialist) in the general election.[25]

U.S. House, Vermont At-Large District General Election, 2010

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Peter Welchincumbent

64.6%

154,006

Republican

Paul D. Beaudry

32%

76,403

Independent

Gus Jaccaci

2%

4,704

Socialist

Jane Newtown

1.4%

3,222

N/A

Write-in

0.1%

186

Total Votes

238,521

2008

On November 4, 2008, Peter Welch won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Mike Bethel (I), Cris Ericson (I), Jerry Trudell (Energy Independence), Thomas James Hermann (Progressive) and Jane Newton (Liberty Union) in the general election.[26]

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Welch is available dating back to 2006. Based on available campaign finance records, Welch raised a total of $4,998,024 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 2, 2013.[28]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Welch missed 121 of 5,233 roll call votes from January 2007 to April 2013. This amounts to 2.3%, which is worse than the median of 2.1% among current congressional representatives as of April 2013.[36]

Congressional staff salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Welch paid his congressional staff a total of $989,570 in 2011. Overall, Vermont ranks 12th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[37]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Welch's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $2,459,097 and $6,745,999. That averages to $4,602,548, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic representatives in 2011 of $5,107,874. His average net worth increased by 4.69% from 2010.[38]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Welch's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $2,287,107 to $6,506,000. That averages to $4,396,553.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.[39]

National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Welch ranked 81st in the liberal rankings in 2012.[40]